linux virtual machine software?

waelaltaqi · 01-14-2007, 03:02 PM

is there an open source software that can run virual machines under linux? the idea installing mutiple distros without wipping out the hard drive or dual boot. my job requires me to study MS Share Point i need to install server 2003 for testing purpses. in simple words, is there an open source VM workstation?

macemoneta · 01-14-2007, 03:16 PM

There is Xen, KVM, UML (User Mode Linux), and Bochs. If you're just looking for free, VMWare Server is free and available for Linux.

I'm sure I missed one or two.

kdrlx · 01-15-2007, 03:23 AM

I have been using qemu for a long time with satisfactory results. Make sure you also get kqemu module to get some speed.

Sepero · 01-15-2007, 04:06 AM

qemu is really good, but as kedar said, you will likely need to compile the kqemu module for your kernel. Otherwise it is quite slow.

waelaltaqi · 01-15-2007, 09:23 AM

i'm going to describe qemu installation steps that i've taken:

1- unpacked and copied qemu directory to the /tmp
2-

Code:

root@slack:/tmp# ./configure
root@slack:/tmp#make
root@slack:/tmp#make install

then downloaded the kqemu accelerator and did:

Code:

./configure 
make
make install

no errors appeared.

then i tried to do this:

Code:

root@slack:~/qemu/local/bin# ./qemu-img create -f qcow /root/VirtualMachines/windows2003.img 4G
Formating '/root/VirtualMachines/windows2003.img', fmt=qcow, size=4194304 k

then:

Code:

root@slack:~/qemu/local/bin# ./qemu -cdrom /dev/cdrom -hda /root/VirtualMachines/windows2003.img -boot d
Could not open '/dev/kqemu' - QEMU acceleration layer not activated
qemu: could not load PC bios '/usr/local/share/qemu/bios.bin'

i don't know why qemu is not able to see kqemu accelerator. so i decided to run it without kqemu:

Code:

root@slack:~/qemu/local/bin# ./qemu -cdrom /dev/cdrom -hda /root/VirtualMachines/windows2003.img -no-kqemu -boot d
qemu: could not load PC bios '/usr/local/share/qemu/bios.bin'

does anybody know why it's doing this? i'm going to work on the documentation a little more but if somebody can guide me here i will really appreciate it.

Sepero · 01-15-2007, 07:59 PM

It sure is nice to be able to 'apt-get install qemu'...

Anyway, perhaps you could try using the raw image type; I've never use qcow.
The links on this search look like they could help you out with the bios problem.
http://www.google.com/search?num=50&...22&btnG=Search

kdrlx · 01-16-2007, 12:58 AM

I think the bios not found error may not be related to kqemu at all.

Sepero · 01-16-2007, 03:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kedar_damle

I think the bios not found error may not be related to kqemu at all.

I agree. Get qemu running without kqemu first, then you can work on the "device not found" problem.

sundialsvcs · 01-16-2007, 07:47 AM

You need to be mindful, however, of just how the virtualization effect is created by the product you are using. For example, qemu translates instruction-sequences into a sort of "executable p-code" on the fly, or, with kqemu, it fiddles with the interrupt and page tables to put the hardware into a quasi-emulator environment. And it does run well enough.

More-advanced x86 microprocessors provide true virtual-machine capabilities that can be used as well.